Big Tent Coalition Deepens Obi-Datti Grassroots Engagement

The Professor Pat Utomi-led Big Tent Coalition of political parties and civil society organisations has created layers of independent structures, and introduced novel cause-related engagements for the productive and collaborative engagement of “Obidients.” These structures engage the grassroots with a view to re-orientating the nation’s politics, writes Deji Elumoye.

The Big Tent coalition of political parties, social movements, civil society organizations and candidate support groups make up the Third Force for reclaiming Nigeria by electing Peter Obi and Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed as President and Vice President in the 2023 general elections.

The Big-Tent for Peter Obi Campaign led by Professor Pat Utomi was created to harness the Obidient Movement’s Support Groups, NCF/ Third Force coalitions, other political parties, individuals and Professionals in creating commitment and ownership of the Peter Obi project by those who don’t belong to Labour Party or any party; and harmonize, organize, support and coordinate Support Groups at the Polling Units, Wards and LGA levels (foisting an organic bottom-up body) to complement the Labour Party and Presidential Campaign Council efforts in canvassing, getting out the votes and protection/delivery of the votes whilst also supporting the Obi-Datti candidacy with key Professional Advisory in Policy Strategy Formulations for an effective issues based campaign.

The Big-Tent also has policy strategy Think Tank group, and most importantly a complementary campaign structure.

From its “Listening Clinics” on various sectors of the economy in a bottom-up policy articulation; to novel cause-related engagements for the productive and collaborative engagement of “Obidients” and other Nigerians on social issues, such as the Clean-Up Nigeria project; to constitution of the Coalition’s Policy team to drive an issues based campaign to liberate Nigeria in 2023; and now the inauguration of the Big Tent ObiDatti Independent Campaign Council, the coalition is deepening the Obi-Datti engagement with voters nationwide.

At the formal inauguration of the Big Tent Obi-Datti Independent Campaign Council in Lagos recently, Chairman of Big Tent, Professor Pat Utomi disclosed that the Independent Campaign Council is designed to overcome environmental challenges in the execution of campaign goals to reach the grassroots of the country, re-orientate politics and take back the country for the good of the many.

Director of Media and Communications for the Big Tent Independent Campaign Council, Charles Odibo, quoted Professor Utomi as stating that this “emanates from the fact that the Big Tent is a coalition of political parties, social movements, Peter Obi support groups, and civil society that constitute the Third Force for national retrieval and transformation.”

Members of the Big-Tent Obi-Datti Independent Campaign Council who have been chosen primarily because of their competence, passion and commitment to the unity and security of Nigeria and advancing the wellbeing of the people, will support the drive for an issues based campaign to liberate Nigeria in 2023, Utomi emphasized.

Utomi who also leads the Collegial Leadership Council which consists of the heads of the founding political & social movement groups that consist of the Big-Tent reiterated that given the troubling state of governance in the country “at a time when there are large areas of ungoverned spaces, ways and means money creation are repeatedly violating the law and setting the country on the course of surging inflation; oil theft and the production of oil at close to half of our OPEC quota has driven up the misery index from an already negative pole position of the poverty capital of world, an issues based campaign is imperative and must commence immediately because a new Nigeria is possible.”

Chairman of The Big-Tent Obi-Datti Independent Campaign Council (BCC), Mr. Emmanuel Ijewere, a foremost Accountant and past President of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) added that the Campaign Council consists of “several workgroups designed to deliver both issue-based campaign and grassroots mobilization of the Obidient Movements into a harnessed polling units formation to guarantee that Labour Party wins the 2023 Presidential Elections.”

In his brief remarks at the inauguration, Director General of the Big-Tent Campaign Management Team (CMT), Ibrahim Huseni Abdukarim, promised to expand the support base of the Labour party presidential ticket to the nation’s rural areas by adopting door to door, hamlet to hamlet campaigns, visitations, voter sensitization, outreach meetings, among others.

Among the key leaders of the Big-Tent Obi-Datti Independent Campaign Council is a former Secretary-General of the Northern Senators’ Forum, Senator Saidu Dansadau, who will serve as Vice Chairman of the Campaign Management Team (CMT); former Deputy President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Promise Adewusi, as CMT Secretary; and Salvation Alibor as the Deputy Director General/ General Liaison of the CMT.

Leading the various Directorates of the Campaign Management Team are Dr. Austin Kemie, Head of Secretariat;  Boma Alabi, SAN, Legal;  Charles Odibo, Media and Communications;  Ogbuefi Tony Nnacheta, Polling Unit Operations; Rufai Ahmed Khalil, Contacts & Mobilization; Modupe Adelaja, Women Mobilization; and Kolade Ademola Craig, Youths Mobilization.

Other Directors are Okey Onusoro, Security; Nuhu Yakubu, Intelligence & Strategy; Ngozi Joseph Odumuko, Tech & Vote Protection ; Dr. Peter Agada, Support Groups Council; Dr. Chidi Okpaluba, Situation Room; Princess Nana Modupe Onwodi, Rapid Reaction Team; Comrade Fatima Ibrahim, Civil Society Liaison; Dr. David Solomon, Chief Diaspora Liaison Officer; and Prof. Chris Nwokobia, Jnr, Public Affairs.

As part of the Campaign Management Team, Utomi also inaugurated a college of spokespersons from every state of the Federation to deepen the Peter Obi campaign communication to the grassroots, as the ObiDatti campaign engages the voting public with alternative but superior solutions that will result in a shift from revenue bating and conspicuous consumption emphasis to a production culture that will lift up the quality of life of Nigerians.

These spokespersons will also effectively communicate the efforts of the Big Tent for Peter Obi Campaign, as the Labour Party candidate leads the college of leaders working together to win the 2023 election.

Through Big Tent’s cause-related activities like the Clean-Up Nigeria project, which Utomi flagged off recently, it is designed to mop up and properly channel the energies of the growing Obi-dient youth population through various socially impactful Speak Up & Clean Up activities to promote sustainably organized youth led support rallies for Obi’s emergence as President.

At the event flag off which was also being done simultaneously across the country, Utomi said “it’s time to invite everyone to look at where our country is, to look at how much it needs cleaning. That cleaning begins from the physical, we need to clean up our environment because climate change is real, we need to clean up our consciences, because to serve the people is a central demand of our citizenship, we need to clean up our ways so that our country can prosper.”

Utomi encouraged Nigerians to ensure that the activity is sustained every other weekend until February, 2023 to clean up the environment and that in cleaning the environment, “we set our minds to clean up corruption, to clean up nepotism, to clean up state capture, to clean up the desire to dominate others because truly it is fascism and it is creeping into our politics.”

Through Clean-Up Nigeria, the Big Tent coalition is creating a rallying point for the productive engagement of youths; it will serve as channel to support youth Speak-Up (Soro-Soke).

Above all, it will enable clean up of cities, de-clog the drainages in support of the world climate months and beyond, and rid our environments of plastics waste. Clean-Up Nigeria shows that the Obi presidency will be all about doing good and solving societal problems.

Already, various support groups are being vetted and endorsed to independently continue with the Clean-Up project across the country on a periodic basis (weekly, fortnightly, monthly, etc) in their respective localities.

There is also another project called Doctors and Medics For Peter Obi which is part of the numerous support groups that are daily volunteering to work for the Obi-Datti movement. It is a grassroots outreach initiative of doctors and allied professionals who freely volunteered to support the presidential campaign of Obi.

It is a non-profit, non-religious and non-ethnic initiative. It is open to all doctors who are of good character and standing in the community, and are known to be interested in the aims and aspirations of the initiative.

So far, the group has over 7,000 doctors and about 3,500 Allied Professionals, totaling over 10,000 in the movement at home, in over 20 states, and in the diaspora.

In August and September, the UK chapter of Doctors For Peter Obi concluded a 30-day fully funded medical outreach/sensitization campaign across the 16 LGAs of Taraba State in collaboration with the Taraba Doctors For Peter Obi. They have done similar activities in many more states across the country.

According to Director of Media and Communications for the Big Tent, Charles Odibo, “the mindset, and therefore the message of the Big Tent Coalition for Obi-Datti is a clarion call that today’s politics should not be about the candidates but about Nigerians, their dreams, aspirations, beliefs and hopes. It is an understanding of the need to collaborate to make things happen and birth a New Nigeria that is truly POssible.”